Table Talk

Shop's owners helped brew up new hobby in Columbus

Buy This PhotoGARY SEMAN JR./THISWEEKNEWSNina Hawranick and Scott Francis own the Winemaker's Shop, 3517 N. High St. in Clintonville. Home brewing was in its infancy when the shop opened 40 years ago, but now it flourishes in central Ohio.

Buy This PhotoLORRIE CECIL/THISWEEKNEWSThe recipe for Lemon pepper salmon pasta, courtesy of Phil Liesenfeld of Stars Grill can be found at thisweeknews.com/foodandwine.

When the Winemaker's Shop started, beer accounted for about 5 percent of the business. Today, it's about 60 percent.

The couple were quick to point out there is no false competition between wine and beer. Many enthusiasts make both at home.

Yet there is no denying that many Americans have become hopeless devotees of craft beer, creating more home brewers, microbreweries and brew pubs.

Francis said when he bought Winemaker's, there were 40 functioning breweries throughout the United States. Now, there are roughly 100 craft breweries in Ohio, and the number keeps growing.

But it wasn't always that way.

Francis helped to found Columbus Brewing Co. in 1989, before it moved to its present location in the Brewery District and a restaurant was added to the complex.

Francis said times were lean back then.

"I couldn't give the beer away," he said.

Bar managers were reluctant to buy it, saying it was too expensive and people had become too accustomed to American macrobrews.

But over time, a few brew pubs sprouted up in Columbus -- including Hoster, Elevator and Barley's, the latter of which Francis was head brewmaster for 18 years. The selection at bars, carryouts and specialty stores blossomed, ushering in a new era in beer appreciation.

Brewing has become something of a family affair at the couple's household, with sons Ivan and Alex involved in the business.

Ivan designed and maintains the store's website and directs social media, while Alex will join his father at Uptown Deli and Brew Co., set to open soon in Westerville.

Hawranick said she and her husband had considered relocating to a bigger storefront with a tasting room and in-house production, but they never found a suitable location and the timing never seemed right.